Dhaka: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered each of the 154 tanner owners based in Dhaka’s Hazaribagh area to pay 10,000 taka daily as a compensation for damaging the environment until they relocate to Savar.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha reduced the compensation from 50,000 taka to 10,000 taka on Monday morning.

Earlier, the tannery owners filed a petition against the High Court order that ordered each of the tannery owners to pay 50,000 taka per day.

On June 16, the High Court in its order had asked the tannery owners to deposit the daily compensation until they relocated their factories to Savar Tannery Industrial Estate, as per the government decision.

The High Court had also ordered the industries secretary to submit a report by July 17 on whether the owners had paid the fine and asked the environment secretary to file a separate report within the same date on the damage the tanneries had inflicted on the Buriganga River.

The court came up with the decision following a petition filed by the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh as the 154 tanneries in Hazaribagh were yet to relocate despite a court order.

Earlier, the government decided to relocate tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar to save adjoining rivers and the dwellers of the area from health hazards, following pressures from environmentalists and rights groups.

The government has already allocated plots to 155 tannery owners through Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industry Corporation (BSCIC) at the industrial park established on a 200-acre land in Savar.

The Industries Ministry previously had extended the deadline several times but decided to go tough against the errant tanners recently considering the damage to the environment.

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